Microsoft continues to fine tune with latest Windows 10 Fall Creators Update test build
Microsoft released yet another new Windows 10 Fall Creators Update test build for PCs to Fast Ring Insiders on Aug. 2.
That new Windows 10 test build, No. 16257, includes the addition of the beta of Microsoft's coming Eye Control eye-tracking feature. Eye Control currently only works with select Tobii eye-tracking hardware, but Microsoft is planning on expanding support for other devices in the future.
I asked Microsoft yesterday which version of Windows 10 would make the Eye Control accessibility feature available to mainstream users. As of yesterday, it was looking like Eye Control might be available in the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update but only in beta form.
A spokesperson said Microsoft had "no more to share."
"Eye Control is in beta and people interested in early testing and providing feedback can sign up to be a Windows Insider," the spokesperson added.
Windows 10 test build 16257 also updates the Windows Console colors to make them more modern. It also adds some UI tweaks to Edge, as part of the Fluent Design System overhaul, to make it have a "more modern look in the browser frame."
The latest test build also adds quite a few Windows Defender Application Guard (WDAG) improvements. I had heard from one Insider recently that Microsoft had stopped delivering updates to WDAG in its latest test builds. But it looks like WDAG is back to being updated in 16257 -- which hopefully means it still will make it into the RTM (release to mainstream) version of the Fall Creators Update.
WDAG (codenamed Barcelona) isolates potential malware and exploits downloaded via the browser and isolates and contains the threat. WDAG will use virtualization-based security, isolating potentially malicious code in containers so it can't spread across company networks. Microsoft officials had said WDAG might be part of the Windows 10 Creators Update, which came out this past spring, but it ended up not making the cut.
Microsoft also released an updated test version of Windows 10 for Mobile -- Build 15237, which is part of the "Feature 2" branch -- on Aug. 2. That test build for Fast Ring Insiders adds a bunch of fixes. Microsoft also released last week's Windows 10 Fall Creators Update Build 16251 for PCs to Insiders in the Slow Ring on Aug.2.
For a full list of known issues and fixes that are part of the latest Windows 10 test builds, check out Microsoft's blog post on 16257 and 15237.
Microsoft is still targeting September 2017 as its Windows 10 Fall Creators Update release target, as far as we know. Just last week, Microsoft officials said that the original Windows 10 Creators Update release of Windows 10, which began rolling out in April 2017, was ready for business deployment.
Microsoft is not yet delivering any new Windows 10 "Redstone 4" code to those in the "Skip Ahead" ring for Windows 10. But it's not entirely clear which Windows 10 "Redstone 3" test build Microsoft has/will designate as RTM.